[Chapter 1 - Unlucky Resurrection]
Where am I?... I’m confused, my head hurts and the last
thing I remember was me drifting through an empty world before being pulled
towards a light that then engulfed me, now I’m lying on my back again staring
at a rocky ceiling, what will happen next… Wait rocky? This isn’t the rundown
apartment I died in, it was cold and so dark that it looked like nighttime but just
like the night the small glowing crystals that were embedded into the ceiling
made it look like stars in the night sky, it was amazingly beautiful and gave off
a magical feeling but right now all I wanted was answers.
I really should get up cause staying on my back isn’t gonna help
me find my answers as to why I am here, I noticed something about my body it
wouldn’t move, my body if feels like it weighed a ton and I struggled just to
sit up. After spending about 10 minutes of tiresome movements I was finally sitting
up right but as I looked around the first thing I saw instantly gave me a cold
sweat.
Dead bodies everywhere even though it was dark I could see
the corpses that were piled all around me, many of them from middle aged men to
children were stacked on top of each other looking like a mountain of corpses
you would see in a horror movie but what shocked me more was that some of them
were walking around, it was more like limping but it acted like it was alive
and I don’t mean somebody half dead but like they’ve been dead for weeks with
their flesh decaying.
I was terrified to the point where I tried to move my heavy
body and crawl away but when I saw my arm I yelled “Gaahhhhh…” I tried to say “What
the fuck…” but my throat felt like it was ripped apart making me sound like a
dog growling, as I looked at myself I realise that my body had decayed flesh
and looked like the rest of these zombies (yes I know what a zombie is).
Right now I wanted to run more than anything but before that
I noticed that the other zombies were walking right past me, ignoring me more
like it, I know I shouldn’t be surprised cause I’m one a zombie now but I kind
of expected them to at least noticed me a little. In the distance I saw
something look like a small lake, I was trying to stand up but my body was weak
so it took a while but I managed to get up and walk towards the lake so I could
good look at myself.
As I stare at the clear lake I saw what my new body look
like, for one I’m ugly but not too ugly if that’s possible for a zombie having
most of my average looking face intact with both my eyes giving off a scary
vibe with its bright amber coloured glow. I didn’t have hair but could see some
remaining strands that were black so I decided to pull out the rest, I mean if
I have to choose its hair or no hair not strands, my body was around 5’6 in
height and had retained most of its pale white skin but with many knife wounds,
rotting flesh and some bones showing on my fore arms but no guts hanging out
thankfully but most of all I still had my genitals, nothing is more humiliating
than a man without his dick and family jewels.
I was glad I wasn’t too bad looking and compared to the rest
of the zombies I looked better to a human than the rest of them but still being
a zombie kind of sucked. I reached my hand out and touched the water to drink
some but I felt weak like all my strength left me and I almost fell in, so I
quickly jumped back against a mountain of corpses and realise that zombies hate
water and I wasn’t some character from that one anime that ended with piece, I
wonder if it’s the same with other undead? Suddenly I felt really hungry but I
am a zombie so that kinda made sense…kinda.
I heard voices coming from a tunnel not too far away and it
sounded like people, the other zombies stopped what they were doing and moved
towards the sound but I felt danger so I just hid behind a mountain of corpses
plus if I can’t talk they would probably think I’m just another zombie. I then
hear the zombies groaning and saw them get sliced to pieces by about half a
dozen people in their twenties armed and equipped with a variety of tools, five
wore leather armour with weapons from bows to swords to spears and the other
two had weird robes on them that looked like a priest, it reminded me of the
characters from the RPG games and what I’d read about in novels.
I wanted to talk to them and get some answers but looking
like this they will attack me just like the rest, for now I watched and
listened to them but they saying some weird and stupid things, like “man the
first level is just too easy for us” or “don’t let your guard down” I was starting
to get annoying just listening to them saying the obvious so I was just examining
their weapons and armour. I was thinking of how I could sneak away from them
when something appeared in front of me.
What’s that, wait I remembered something like this before
coming here but I just can’t remember. I focused my mind on the blue screen in
front of me wanting more info and then it expanded.
[Appraisal] Lv1]
After examining multiple
objects and people, this skill grants the user the ability to examine their
status (more information is given as level goes up)
After reading that I thought that this is an awesome ability
and sounded very useful so I looked at all the human and with my mind said
appraisal but most of the info was covered up with question marks and all I got
was their names, I guess that means they must be pretty strong but why the fuck
was one of the men called Rick of all things, remembering him brought up bad memories
so I looked around and focused on something better a zombie of all things it
doesn’t look stronger than the humans so it might work.
Zombie (Human) Lv1
A human corpse that’s
been possessed by a soul.
[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab] To my
disappointment the info given wasn’t very helpful although the fact that this
world is like a game makes things easier to understand but still that’s to be
expected when I’m still level one, but a second later and another screen popped
up. [tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab] [Appraisal]
Leveled up to Lv2[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab]
That was stupidly quick, I just got this skill and it
already leveled up. I used the skill on the zombie and there was a significant
improvement.
Zombie (Human) Lv1
HP: 20/20, MP: 0/0
A human corpse that’s
been possessed by a soul. Same physique as living humans but lacks intelligence
and has no limiter on muscles.
Well that’s more like it, I gained a level up and got a
little more info and now the hit points and mana points for the zombie were
visible to me and the same was true for the humans, it seems that this skill
will become very useful when it reaches max level. When the humans left the
area I stood up from my hiding spot and walked towards the tunnel that the men
came from, after about an hour of walking with this heavy body I got used to it
and learned most of its limits, it’s was no different from a humans’ body but
this body was twice my original size and this new body has probably been lying
around for who knows how long. Thanks to the recent appraisal of the zombie he
knew that a zombies was three times stronger than a normal human, it only felt
a little awkward to run cause of the difference with my previous body but I
could still run for long periods of time.
I was still so hungry even before I entered the tunnel so I
searched the area to find anything to eat, the cave was amazing it seem to
stretch on forever and was nicely lit from the crystals that were embedded into
the ceiling. Suddenly I saw two men leaning against the wall with multiple
severe wounds on them and lots of blood coming out, they looked similar to the
previous men from before but the blood coming from them smelt delicious, I
licked my lips as my mouth was filled with saliva and I saw that one of the men
was dead but the other was just barely alive but he smelt the tastiest.
I couldn’t take it
any more so I snuck up to him while hiding behind rocks and staying out of
sight until I was right in front of him and when he saw me he had a face mixed
with fear, hatred with a little smile on top, as I widened my mouth I bit into
his throat the man said something before he died I ignored it and continued to
ripped out his throat killing him instantly. The meat of his flesh was hot and
bursting with rich flavor but the blood felt so smooth as it flowed down my
rotten throat and filled my stomach, I wanted continue eating slowly but the
hunger came back and I consume as much as I could from both the men just to
compare flavors.
I continued to
devour both the humans for about half an hour until there were more bones than
meat left, the meat from that human was surprisingly delicious so much that I
forgot I was eating human flesh but I didn’t care about that now, I’ve already
accepted I wasn’t a human anymore and I was free to do what I wanted and when the
hunger took over the instincts of a zombie just happens to kick in and I
consumed the humans.
[Aerico] Leveled up
to Lv8
As I was
wiping my face I realized that these two men were attacked by the same men not
too long ago, I found out because the man said “curse you Rick”, I couldn’t
believe that these men were also left for dead by a man named Rick as well, for
those men to attack these two and leave them to bleed out or be eaten by a
zombie it made me wonder who was worse? Someone you know leaving you for dead
or a monster quickly ending your suffering, I felt sorry for the men that were
betray just like myself. I then looked
at the equipment that the two had and noticed that the men from before didn’t
take anything from them, if they left them here for dead then they could have
taken all their stuff but they didn’t, it made me think that those guys must
have been idiots but for now I’m thankful for those idiots for giving me a
tasty meal and a lot of supplies. I took two one handed swords that both men
had and the clothes that could fit me, there was a long sleeve shirt, long
pants, boots, gloves, a fur cloak and leather amour with a hood attached. The
clothes were really warm while in this cold cave and with most of my rotting
skin was covered up so I could be mistaken as a human, the man’s supply bag
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
which was filled with rope, bandages, a book and potions I wanted to use them
but didn’t know if it was safe and the book was a diary of the already dead
man. Lastly I took both the men’s money pouches which held many type coins that
had a range of colours, I should keep these you never know when money is
needed. After looting
the two men and cutting off some of their meat for later I continued to walk
through the tunnel, the walk was long and I something that was interesting but
not really helpful, a weird flower that glowed in the dark but I couldn’t see
the stats aside from the name, I took it and put it in my newly acquired bag simply
because I can, more zombies walked around with nothing better to do but didn’t
attack me even though I look like a human with a creepy head but maybe zombies
only attack the living and chose to ignore me, also after examining so many
different things I also leveled up my appraisal.
[Appraisal]
Leveled up to Lv3
When I finally
reached the end of the tunnel I found myself in a room very similar to the room
I woke up in, as I looked around I saw a skeleton desperately fighting against
a wolf, they didn’t notice me by being immersed in their fight but I was tired
so I stopped and took a break on a nearby rock and watched as the pair
desperately try to kill each other at the same time I ate some of the leftover human
meat. When I finished eating I saw that the skeleton was the only one left
standing, I looked at both their stats but the skeleton was by far stronger.
Skeleton
(Human) Lv12
HP:
10/56 MP:1/12
With
the flesh removed from its body it no longer needs food or sleep, skeletons
body contains a monster core that produces mana and it spreads through out it’s
body to maintain its form and relies on mana to move and see.
[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab] Firstly, a
moving skeleton wasn’t as scary as a zombie but it was a bit stronger, he was
Lv12 I’m a Lv7 also that thing had something called mana but after thinking
about it I thought that mana could be like magic. That’s so cool I want magic
but the skeleton was slightly taller around 5’9 and looks much stronger than me
so I should back off. Wait why am I chickening out? what the hell’s wrong with
me that’s an unarmed skeleton and I’m a zombie that can think like a human and
is fully armed I’ve seen that zombies don’t attack each other so why not
skeletons? I can take the first strike and finish him off before he has a
chance to attack me, now that sounded like a plan. I dropped my
bag where I was sitting and drew one of my swords, I crept up behind the
skeleton when he wasn’t looking and saw something glow in its rib cage that
must be its monster core, I planned to grab the core and hoped it would die
instantly I mean the damn thing looks like it’s heart. When I tried grab the
core the skeleton reacted and grabbed my hand with its left, it stared at me with
its lifeless eyes and it surprised me at first but I quickly swung my sword at
its elbow and severed its joint. I jumped back
and saw the skeleton enraged as it ran towards me at the speed of a human with
no muscles… yeah the damn thing was slow as maybe it was only fast before
because it reacted when I was too close to it but now I’m just messing with it
by running around the room while laughing at it I mean seriously it can’t keep
up the fight it just had probably took the fight out of it, I ran like this for
a while and got slightly tired but when I saw the skeleton stop suddenly I was
curious about something so I used appraisal and I saw my answer. When I looked
at his stats his mana was still 0 and his health hasn’t changed at all, I
recalled its stats and seeing that a skeleton didn’t need stamina but it needs
mana to move, “ha I’m so smart, I was just messing with you but didn’t realise
I was making you us up what little mana you had just to catch me and now it
can’t move at all” is what I wanted to say but I sounded like a wrecked car
when I tried to speak. After running back to the skeleton I cut off all its
limbs except for its head because I want to see if the monster core will
replenish itself over time and sure enough every minute equals 1 mana
replenished but the limbs I just cut off started to regenerate themselves. I waited for
the monster core to be fully replenished while removing the regrown limbs and
once its core was fully restored I snatched the core from the skeleton and a
watched as it turned into a pile of bones and then to dust. I didn’t get a good
look before but the core looked like a glowing red gem around the size of a
golf ball with a bit of black on the inside, I looked at the core and saw its
stats.
Lesser
Undead Core
The
core produces mana to its given host and constantly replenishes itself.
Come on I already knew all that, well this was
useless but what I noticed just now was that I didn’t get a level up like when
I killed that human so why not now? Hmmm this core produces mana for its host
so if I eat this will I become the new host? Then I remembered that I didn’t level
up until after I had devoured both humans, while looking at the core in my hand
I decided to eat it, well I hope nothing bad happens but hey if this works then
I might get some magic. As I said that I dropped the core into my mouth and
swallowed it whole, soon my whole body felt like I had a fire in my stomach and
wanted to get out, I was about to pass out but I hung in there and later my
body felt amazing.
[Aerico]
Leveled up to Lv9
[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab][tab]
[Skill
Learned – Mana Control]
Now
a pool of mana will be controllable and grow through training or leveling up.
[Skill
Learned – Bone Growth]
A
skill unique to skeletons allows the user’s bones to regrow or increase bone
mass at the cost of mana.
Hell yeah!!! I got magic and a
skill unique to skeletons, firstly I tried the bone growth and after a bit of
experimenting I found that I could move the bones within my body and make them
into amour and weapons.
[Bone
Growth] Evolved into [Bone Create]
[Bone
Create Lv1]
An
advance version of Bone growth, only used by users open minded enough to create
objects outside their bodies.
Not bad, now I could use my bones
to create sword like weapons and armour but I should avoid using this skill
until I get stronger, the reason is simply because my experimenting took a
total of 2 hours by creating bones as hard as a rock and I’m using so much mana
that most of the time spent was used to replenish my mana, the bone armour was
extremely heavy that I thought that my own bones would break from the weight
and the bone weapons were also dull and heavy.
[Bone
Create] Leveled up to Lv2
[Mana
Control] Leveled up to Lv2
Seeing a crack in the wall big enough for me I
slide into I moved into and got comfortable in the wall while feeling
exhausted, before almost falling I just realized that I haven’t looked at my
own stats yet, so I said status with my dog like grunt and it appeared.
Name:
Aerico | Race: Zombie Lv9/10
HP:
48/48 MP:0/12
Status
Effects: None
Str:28
| Dex:18 | Vit:22 | Int:56 | Wis:60 | Chr:0 | Luk:0
Skills:
Appraisal Lv3 | Mana Control Lv2 | Bone Create Lv2
Titles:
Corrupt Soul
Now that’s a new, what’s these
stats mean?
Strength – physical strength and
stamina
Dexterity – reflexes and speed
Vitality – health and defense
Intelligence – knowledge and
magic
Wisdom – quick thinking and magic
recovery
Charm – appearance and popularity
Luck – the gods smile on you
What the fuck these stats are
trippy as hell some stats look normal, my intelligence and wisdom are considerably
high for my level but my charm and luck are 0, like fair enough I get I’m a
zombie and I don’t have the butter face I use to have but why the no luck? Seriously
“The gods smile on you”, well I kinda get that, I mean I remember cursing the
gods about giving me a crappy first life but come on that life was that and
this life was this one now give me a break.
Still how am I unlucky? I mean
yeah I died and became a zombie but I was reincarnated and given a second
chance at life in a world with magic and monsters, also in just a few hours I
got multiple skills, ate tasty human flesh, got a large amount of loot, defeated
my first enemy like it was child’s play and gained magic if anything this is
probably the luckiest day of both my lives.
Before I go to sleep I should
check up on this [Corrupt Soul] title, nah I’m too tried for this I’ll deal
with it later time to sleep.